Industrial nameplate and logo specialist, Diametric, has manufactured a vital set of components for a product that will help children get to grips with maths and learning across the world.
The company, which predominantly designs and produces product badges, branding, labels and nameplates for companies across the UK and the world, provided the essential finishing touch to the ActivTable in the form of its connector panels.
The concept
The ActivTable is the brainchild of Promethean, which manufactures products and solutions for the education sector in order to support forward-thinking institutions around the world in an effort to increase achievement among teachers and students.
ActivTable is an interactive table with a 46-inch HD LCD touch-sensitive display that supports up to six students at one time. Designed to engage learners aged four to 11, the ActivTable enables flexible opportunities for collaboration, from small group learning to supporting special needs and whole class activities.
The individual tool libraries, web browser capability and the support for a variety of applications allows educators to customise and create tailor-made activities for different teaching approaches. It can personalise instruction based on the needs of individual learners and track student contribution and use of learning tools for each activity.
The brief
Having designed the new product, Promethean approached Diametric for help in producing the all-important connector panels which house the speakers and sockets to connect microphones, USB devices and headphone sets.
Having seen its past work for the likes of Naim Audio, Bose and Soundcraft, the company was confident that Diametric could call on its decades of experience and advise on the best materials and processes for the high quality product.
It was a difficult challenge as the panels had to fit perfectly and comply to strict safety regulations. In addition, due to the circumstances in which the products were going to be used, it was essential that every component was safe, durable and user-friendly, taking into account all of Promethean’s specific requirements.
Shaun Kara, Diametric’s Sales Account Manager, said: “The biggest challenge was producing the panel itself at the right thickness and length and with the right materials to give the desired appearance whilst maintaining the correct structure. We knew already that had we used purely stainless steel it would have conducted electricity and failed ESD safety tests.”
The solution
Shaun said: “After much consultation and research our solution was to create a panel that was made of several alternating layers of stainless steel and polycarbonate. This ensured the product was completely safe and also meant the panel would fit perfectly to the product.”
The panel was cut using Diametric’s press tools to allow space for the various sockets. The speaker section was embossed, allowing it to come through the aperture in the polycarbonate but remain flush to the panel.
Diametric is meticulous about the quality testing of its products, ensuring each is durable, efficient and of the highest calibre. It tested the proposed solution for Promethean under a variety of conditions to ensure it met all requirements and passed all safety tests.
The result
With the product ticking all boxes, Diametric produced the first batch of just under 1,000 of the items from its manufacturing centre in the UK.
The ActivTables have been manufactured by Promethean and are currently hitting classrooms worldwide.
Helen Isherwood, Product Manager for ActivTables at Promethean, said: “ActivTable offers a new and exciting way to engage students, making learning fun and relevant in the 21st century. Since the ActivTable will be used in classrooms, it is very important that the connectivity panels are not only intuitive to use, but also have a high quality finish that will be safe and durable for students and teachers to use daily.”
Badging a nation
Diametric provides high quality industrial badges, nameplates and labels for some of the biggest brands in the UK and worldwide. Its team of experts in design, branding and manufacturing work together to provide the essential finishing touches to products, to any timescale and budget.
With the widest range of processes Diametric is able to advise on the best solution for every project and can create bespoke processes to achieve individual aims. In addition to Promethean, it counts among its clients the likes of Jaguar Cars, Sunseeker and Hasselblad.
Based in Hampshire, Diametric has its own UK manufacturing centre and has the widest range of processes. Among its product capabilities are the production of electroformed, alugraphic, injection moulded and Tufflex badges, as well as metal badges and nameplates, industrial and roll form labels and graphic overlays and fascias.
To find out more or to request a free sample pack of Diametric’s work visit www.diametric.gb.com
Tel: 01489 860888
